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Friday, May 18, 2012

Prince Henri Gasquet is happy to let his father, the king, choose his bride for him, until he meets Monica Latimer.

Monica Latimer is not prepared to risk letting any man close enough to learn about her Gift. A gift that normally has men running for the hills when they find out about it.

What will happen when both mindsets are challenged?

Reviewer: Dolce Amore
Prince Henri Pierre Gasquet, the heir to the throne of a tiny European country bordering Switzerland, leaves his father in charge of finding him a wife:

I am prepared to marry a bride of your choice. It worked for you and mother. And I see no reason why, if my proposed bride is chosen with care, I cannot emulate your example.

Still, he never counted on falling for Monica, a friend of Henri's brother Liam and his wife.

Monica had a difficult childhood from the moment she discovered that she had the “gift”. Detested by her family and feared by her classmates, only her brother, Billy, believed in her, she believes no man could be trusted.

She couldn’t explain how she understood what animals told her, couldn’t explain why she ‘saw’ things when she sat in front of her fire at night. Nor could she verbalise the soul-deep satisfaction of being a small part in a creature’s recovery.

However, things are changing; after twenty years, her mother revels to her that her grandmother also had the “gift” and gives her this advice:

“Never stop.” Her mother’s voice, as loud as her own, filled Monica’s mind. “Never stop watching. Never stop dreaming.” It faltered, dropped. “Fire, like love, can burn or warm. Never let the fire within you go out.”

Being released from his duties by his father and sent to his brother in Scotland, he never thought he would see Monica again. And when he discovers that it was her advice that made the king make that decision, he declares her the enemy. Yet, the attraction was still burning between them.

He leaned forward until his gaze, dark and intense, was inches away from hers. “I didn’t dare ride behind you for fear of giving in to temptation and hauling you off your horse to the ground and ravishing you.”
“Ravishing?” Was that hope she heard in her voice, invitation, or fantasy? “That’s a very old-fashioned word.”
“At heart I’m an old-fashioned kind of guy.”

When he has an accident, he realizes that what he feels for her is love, not lust or hate and that he couldn’t marry another woman.

Almost losing his life the night of the blizzard had convinced him of the stupidity of agreeing to an arranged marriage when the woman who owned his heart lived a few measly hours away by plane. He couldn’t do it.

I liked the story. Still, after reading all of Ms. Sherry Gloag’s books, I felt as if the story lost some of the depth her other stories have. Another turn off, was the inexistent Billy (we just know that he and Monica are close) and the fast acceptance of Henri that she had the gift. That didn’t add but took away from the book’s credibility.
Yet, we have some romantic lines like this one that made me raise the rating I initially decided on.

How could he verbalise that without Monica at his side, he’d only be half a person? Only be half the king he could be if she didn’t stand beside him?